Economic stimulus payments will begin arriving at more than 130 million households this week. Why not invest that Treasury check in something that will continue to save you money, even as gas and energy prices rise? By spending your tax rebate to improve your home's energy efficiency, you'll enjoy lower energy bills while doing your part to stop global warming and stimulate a cleaner, greener economy.
First the good news. At least we don't have mice. My two clean, lovely cats cover that beat. But cockroaches, we're not so lucky. A few months ago, our family spent a couple of weeks out of town. That's when the nasty bugs moved in. Lot's of them. They enjoyed the warm weather, the daily cat food refills. They also were fond of the safe haven that Apartment 15 E provided. We don't spray.
And since our neighbors all around us do, brigades of bugs found microscopic pathways and tunnels (what do they need, 1/16th of an inch to squeeze through?) into our home. Our clean, debris-free, non-toxic home. Yech!
A lot has changed since 1970, when Earth Day was first celebrated. We have an Environmental Protection Agency, unleaded gasoline, a Clean Water Act and a Clean Air Act. But we're still burning coal, fighting air pollution and looking for renewable energy alternatives. 38 years after the first Earth Day, here are a few classic simple steps that are still relevant.
For the first 3 months I boiled them every night and scrubbed the insides with a stiff nylon bottle brush. After the first 3 months I continued scrubbing the insides with the brush and put the bottles in the dishwasher every night. I also exclusively used canned ready-to-feed formula. I would boil a pot of water on the stove, take the pot off the stove and then sit the bottle of formula in the pot of very hot water to warm the formula. I did this until the day my daughter turned one. She is now 10 1/2 and I am extremely worried about the damage that may have been done to her breast tissue and reproductive system from this extremely high level of exposure to BPA during the first year of her life. As soon as I learned about BPA, a few months ago, I stopped buying canned foods and got rid of all our plastic. What else do you recommend I do to protect her health? What can I do to help prevent her from getting cancer in spite of the exposures she's had? I've read that the effects of BPA on a newborn are permanent, but is there anything at all I can do to lower her risk of disease in light of her past exposures?
If you made improvements to your home in 2007 to make it more energy efficient, you may be eligible for a tax credit. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 encouraged homeowners to invest in cleaner technology and energy efficiency by offering credits of up to $500 for qualified insulation, replacement windows and doors, water heaters, and certain high efficiency heating and cooling equipment. Tax credits, unlike tax deductions, are as good as a rebate -- they come straight out of Line 46, the taxes you owe.
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